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India achieved a significant milestone by conducting a successful space flight test as part of its preparations for a planned mission to send astronauts into space by 2025. The test involved launching a module into outer space and safely bringing it back to Earth to assess the spacecraft’s crew escape system. S. Somanath, the Chief of the Indian Space Research Organization, reported that the test module was successfully recovered after its touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.
The launch faced some delays due to adverse weather conditions, leading to a 45-minute postponement. Furthermore, an issue with the engine prompted an additional delay of more than an hour, with the ground computer briefly holding the module’s lift-off. However, the technical glitch, caused by a monitoring anomaly in the system, was resolved, and the test was successfully conducted 75 minutes later from the Sriharikota satellite launching station in southern India.
This achievement is a significant step toward future missions, including the planned launch of a robot into space next year.
In September, India successfully launched its first space mission to study the sun, adding to its growing list of space achievements. This feat followed a successful uncrewed landing near the south pole region of the moon, marking India as the fourth country in the world, alongside the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, to achieve this milestone.
These successes highlight India’s increasing prominence as a technology and space powerhouse, aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India asserting itself as a rising nation among the global elite.
As part of India’s future space ambitions, Prime Minister Modi announced plans to establish an Indian-crafted space station by 2035 and land an Indian astronaut on the moon by 2040. India, with a history of space activities dating back to the 1960s, has not only launched satellites for itself and other nations but also placed an orbiter around Mars in 2014. The country is now gearing up for its first mission to the International Space Station, in collaboration with the United States, set to take place next year.
